[Dx-qsl] When to use IRCs

Mon May 15 16:53:18 EDT 2006

I strongly suspect that one of the reasons the expiration date was put on the "new" IRC's was because so many amateurs, like all of us, sell & re-sell them to each other rather than exchange them for stamps.
Just think, at one time an IRC that only cost US$.50 is now "worth" the same as one that costs US1ドル.85. Worse (to them), one that was bought for US$.50 can now be redeemed for an $.85 air mail stamp!
Somewhere, some bookeeper must have started noticing that so many IRC's were floating out on the "grey" market & never redeemed, and that got brought to the attention of some bureaucrat, and before you know it...
I just had a thought. In the state of Pennsylvania, by law, gift certificates can not have an expiration date. They are good indefinitely. Now, suppose you considered an IRC the same as a gift certificate... yeah, I know, federal statutes would supersede, but it was a thought...
73
From: Kz2i at aol.com
Date: Mon May 15 15:42:30 CDT 2006
To: dx-qsl at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Dx-qsl] When to use IRCs

yep, no argument from me on that. but i (and i assume a lot of the 
aforementioned dorks) buy their ircs from managers. 

and if i buy an irc from a post office after July 1, i SHOULD be getting the 
new version. right? 

so the only danger should be from dorks buying from a post office before 
July 1 and using them realllly late in the year (5 to 6 months later). or from 
a manager that is still trying to squeeze the best return out of their 
on-hand supply.

it's up to all of us to educate the less-knowledgeable. W3UR has a good 
article in his column in the June 2006 QST about ircs. Hopefully, other other 
international organizations will pick up the ball too. and maybe a mention 
on the various reflectors and clusters wouldn't be out of order. i see more 
newbie dxers using them every day. 

hmm, i know it's extra work, but an additional stuffer NOW from managers 
might help avoid end-of-year problems (steve, bob, joe and a whole mess of guys 
are muttering at me right now). maybe a subtle reminder that the ircs the 
guy just sent won't be valid after 12/31/06, etc etc.

Maybe the new ones won't have an expiration date and we won't have to worry 
about this next time (yeah, right). well, that's enough of my 2 cents (or 
one old style irc) for now. let's go work some dx!

73 de Steve, KZ2I
Charlotte, NC
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